Final essays will comprise of a five+ page paper. Your goal is to create a well-organized and researched thesis-driven essay.
Your final essay is due March 16, and should cover either Nalo Hopkinson’s Salt Roads or Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology
Each essay should include two supporting articles that are cited within the paper.
The essays should be formatted in MLA, with Times New Roman 12 and one inch margins all around.
The Basic Requirements and Consideration
Five+ page essay must follow the provided outline
Essay must be organized around a three-part thesis statement that expresses the student’s belief/understanding of the literary selection(s). This thesis MUST hold the paper together, that is, tell the reader where the paper is going and stick to that plan. That means the thesis statement should be both structural and argumentative.
Essay should be more formal, limited to a few uses of I’s, NOT use contractions, and should NOT be evaluative: it does not discuss whether the student likes the piece or not, or if it was good, bad, etc. The student’s opinion, rather, comes through in the connections and interpretations they see. Your analysis and connection with the text will drive this paper.
These connections should also be supported by two or more scholarly research articles. These must support (whether you choose to agree or disagree with them) your goals in the paper. Either way, you are adding voices to your conversation. Professor will be happy to help students find sources.
Your supporting articles should be sourced from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. At least one article per student essay should be literary-minded. Meaning, if you wish to bring in history or additional research articles, you are encouraged to do so, but at least one article needs to be a scholarly literary analysis.
Your articles should be written relatively recently: no more than 10 years old. Sometimes, as scholars, we seek to disrupt established ideas in the scholarly world, and, therefore, may need to include older articles. Discuss older articles with your professor.
Additional non-scholarly sources are okay as long they as they are reputable, written by experts, and serve your paper.
All claims must be supported with evidence from the text and/or articles.
Essay can incorporate discussion boards.
Essay must use MLA. Again, see Purdue OWL.
Essays should be free of proofreading errors, etc.
A sample thesis statement
One could argue that “Cathedral” is about a man who comes to understand that people are always able to grow and learn if we are willing to dismantle our baseless assumptions, allow ourselves to be open to new experiences, and appreciate intimacy. [Notice how this thesis statement has the student’s belief backed up with three examples that are not too specific. The thesis statement also serves as a roadmap for the essay. The student will write the paper in that order: assumptions, experiences, and intimacy.
Outline
The intro includes the topic (for our example, personal growth), the author and the title of the piece. Also remember to include a sentence about the theoretical approach you are choosing. Add a very brief summary sentence about the piece that transitions to the next sentence, which is your three-part thesis statement. The intro does not need to be very long and can be very straightforward. [Remember our sample thesis statement: I believe that “Cathedral” is about a man who comes to understand that people are always able to grow and learn if we are willing to dismantle our baseless assumptions, allow ourselves to be open to new experiences, and appreciate intimacy.
Body Paragraphs 1-4. This paragraph should expand on the first “example” in your thesis statement. With our sample thesis statement, we would discuss the narrator’s assumptions that are based on warrantless stereotypes about people with blindness. Be sure to include sources’ perspectives. Take the time to agree and disagree, modify.
Body Paragraph 5-8. This paragraph should expand on the second “example” in your thesis statement. With our sample thesis statement, we would discuss the narrator’s transformation that occurs when he opens himself up to new experiences. Be sure to include sources’ perspectives. Take the time to agree and disagree, modify.
Body Paragraph 9-12. This paragraph should expand on the third “example” in your thesis statement. With our sample thesis statement, we would discuss the narrator’s willingness to experience intimacy with another human whom he had dehumanized earlier in the story. Be sure to include sources’ perspectives. Take the time to agree and disagree, modify.
Share with us your parting thoughts. Remind us of what your thesis statement was, but in a new way. Remind us of your theoretical perspective and your sources’ perspectives. Is there something else we should consider that wasn’t discussed in this essay?
Prompts for Essay/Thesis Ideas
You don’t need to necessarily include the answers to these questions in your paper, but they can help you organize your thoughts and decide what you’d like to write about in your essay:
What are the main arguments of the book? How are they constructed?
Consider choosing a literary theory critique, which serves a lens for your analysis. For example, a feminist or gender critique. See Purdue OWL’s guide to the various lenses and definitions, etc. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/index.html
How is the book interacting in the literary world? The scholarly?
Pick an area(s) of representation to expand upon: sexuality, race, gender, class, politics, history, etc.?
What questions did this text leave you with? What would you like to learn more about? Research it.
What about the text’s style or construction? How do specific literary elements help create the piece?
Were your views and opinions challenged or changed by this text, if at all? Did the text communicate with you?
Do you want to weigh in the “death of the author” controversy we discussed in the class? That is, does the author matter in the piece you are analyzing?
